


The Lost Ones

by Nisachan666



Series: Blueprints for the Black Market [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol, Dialogue Heavy, Drinking to Cope, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Post-War, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-02-28 20:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2746358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nisachan666/pseuds/Nisachan666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fourth Shinobi war is over and most people are celebrating the end of the destruction. While others drink to celebrate, Shino and Hinata find themselves making toasts to the dead and what could have been.</p><p>Inspiration - "Change the World (Lost Ones)" by Anberlin</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lost Ones

_The bottle holds no answers_

_His lips can only sway_

_Chemicals imbalance_

_Who needs them anyway?_

* * *

There was a reason that Shino never drank. This reason had seemed relatively minor when Kiba and the others had persuaded him to accompany them to the bar, but now that the kikaichu had reached their limit in dealing with the alcohol it was blindingly obvious. Most of the Konoha 11 had already left, only Hinata left to sit with him in the bar that suddenly seemed a lot louder, despite having about half as many people as it had earlier. Leaning back into the corner of the booth seat, he was hoping that by keeping upright and still he could make the room stop spinning. So far he'd had no luck, only succeeding in alarming Hinata with sudden sharp jerks of the head as he momentarily lost co-ordination. 

"Are you okay, Shino?" she asked, patting his hand gently. 

"Could be worse. At least my thoughts are still coherent," he said, pressing a steadying hand to his temple. "At least they seem coherent so far." 

"That's what most drunk people think." 

Shino sighed and let his head thump against the back of the booth seat, the steadying pressure and coolness of the wood somewhat soothing. 

"This was such a bad idea," he said, closing his eyes against the glare of the ceiling lights. "It didn't even accomplish its intended goal." 

Hinata mulled over his words for a moment, before replying, "You can still say accomplish without slurring. I think you should be fine soon." 

"I'm trying to be serious here." 

"I know you are. I'm just saying that at least it should wear off soon." 

"Stay with me until then? I'm not sure I could walk after you if you decided to leave." 

"Of course. I don't think a bar-crawl was really my sort of thing anyway," she said, swirling the drink that she'd been nursing all evening, by now almost entirely diluted by ice.  

"Were you expecting something different?" 

"I don't know. I came out wanting to have a good time and celebrate with friends, but I suppose my heart wasn't in it." 

Shino cracked an eye open just enough to peer at Hinata, the corner of his mouth twitching up in what almost looked like a smile. 

"Strange. I was thinking along those lines too." 

He paused. 

"I had hoped that drinking might help, but that seems to have made it worse." 

"I imagine that lack of balance would do that," Hinata said, the hint of a laugh audible in her voice. 

Shino shook his head slightly, wincing. 

"Not quite what I meant." 

"Well, what did you mean then?" 

For a long time, he didn't answer. He shifted in his seat, turning his head with a little more control than he'd displayed earlier. His hands seemed especially twitchy, fiddling with objects scattered across the table, straightening glasses and rubbing at the hem of his sleeves. Hinata couldn't see his eyes through the goggles, but she was almost certain that they would be pointed away from her. 

With a note of hesitation that she would never have expected from him, Shino said, "I can't help but wonder how things could have been different." 

Hinata tried to keep her breathing deep and even, but she was sure that he had already heard the sharp inhale. 

He continued, throwing caution to the wind, "I guess I'm conscious that Torune and I could just as easily have been in each other's places. All hanging on a decision of who was sent away to Root. I can't help but think...." 

His voice seemed to catch a little, hand clenching in his hair as he regained his composure. 

"I can't help but think that I didn't deserve that," he said. 

Hinata opened her mouth to reply, to reassure him that he was wrong, that it was just the alcohol talking. But whenever she tried to form the words, she would think of Neji and that moment when his eyes, always so piercing and confident, began to dim. She would think of the gentle smile on his face in those final minutes and how unfair it was that he would never live to see how they would change the fates of all Hyuugas yet to be. Shino might have been wrong about his own situation, but his words had cut her to the quick, all in the neat, succinct manner that was his wont. 

"Sorry. I'm not talking much sense, am I?" he asked, internally cursing as he saw her smile slip. 

"No, it's fine. I just think I understand a little too well," she said, forcing herself to smile again. 

There was a long moment of silence between them, Shino wondering whether stumbling home on his own would be the best damage limiter or not; after the faux pas he'd just pulled, he could understand if Hinata couldn't stand his company any longer. She eventually broke the strained quiet as she raised her glass, what little ice there was left clinking against the sides. 

"I propose a toast," she said. 

Shino glanced down at his glass, the dregs of his last drink still clinging in droplets to the bottom. 

"Don't you normally toast before you drink?" he asked. 

"I'm trying to have a moment, Shino. Can you play along for just a minute?" she said, beginning to pout a little. 

"Fine," he said, picking up his own glass. "What are we toasting to then?" 

"To those we've lost far too early," she said, her smile turning introspective. "And to living up to the hopes that they had for us." 

She extended her glass towards him, and for a moment she was afraid that she had gone a step too far. She lowered her eyes and began to move the glass away, when there was the tiniest scrape of glass on glass. She looked up to see Shino with his arm extended and a smile on his face, the first time she'd seen him genuinely smile in months. 

"I think I can toast to that," he said. 

Glancing around the bar, he added, "Maybe this should be it for us tonight though. I think I'll be able to take a step without faceplanting now, so did you fancy a walk home?" 

"I thought I was walking you home," Hinata said, laughing. 

"A mere technicality." 

The night seemed a little brighter, their steps lighter, as they set out into the dark, quiet streets of Konoha, finally able to celebrate in a fashion. 

**Author's Note:**

> After finding out about Shino's past with Torune, I couldn't help but wonder if he ever considers how close he was to dying in Torune's place. Plus, I wanted to write something with a drunk or tipsy Shino that wasn't an excuse for sexy times; that plot turns up so often in fanfic and is honestly kinda uncomfortable. Hence why it's largely based on my own weird experience being drunk and alone at my own house-warming party; if anything is less indicative of sexy times, then it'd be that.


End file.
